Roleplaying campaign.
I've had about ten sessions (playing two scenarios) in my recent role-playing campaign now, some of them in the Pispala Library House. It's my own background world, alternate history with some weird elements (and weird people) using the BTRCs CORPS system. Players are one current coworker and two guys from my former jobs.
Yes, I tend to run multi-session scenarios, although one factor for this campaign seems to be lots digressing, nitpicking and puns… Note that I am not that familiar with circus-specific terminology in English. I actually asked couple of circus associations with additional information but received no reply. The language may also be a bit too modern.
(* means a Player Character. Carine Jadot is a Non-Player Character)
It's early September 1939 in Metz, France, near the Maginot Line. The Spanish Civil War has been fought to a draw so far, Chamberlain has negotiated with Hitler and his propaganda minister Julius Streicher and Valhalla Regiments in Germany and Austria are stretching their muscles. There's lots of soldiers in the streets of Metz, many of them serving in the Maginot Line.
Carinne Jadot, half-sister of the circus proprietor Claude Jadot, writes:
September 8th 1939
Leaving Metz, France.
Dear Diary,
Today is a good day. For the first time in weeks I've shaped my hands in a good way. I have fingers now.
Many things have happened in the last couple of weeks. War is the worst thing, of course, but maybe it will not spread. At least I hope so.
Couple of days after the last time Jan Valmeer(* came to our circus. Valmeer (that's supposed to be one of his real names) is a famous circus entertainer, eccentric knife-thrower and good in sleight of hand. Claude was so happy when he called and wanted to join our circus - at least for a while, he tends to wander.
I was curious so when he drove through the circus gate with his Bentley and his trailer, I went to see him. So did Müller(* and dear diary, I finally know who author he looks like; Sosimo gave me a copy of Metamorphosis with an author's picture in the inside. It was his idea of a joke so I did not feel offended.
Claude was Greeting Valmeer in his own trailer. Müller had shown Claude his Nansen passport and Müller looked at it and grimaced. Müller still has his old Austrian passport but there is no Austria any more. Valmeer spoke fast with a strange jargon and looked like his limbs would be flowing; Claude later told me that he speaks four languages but none of them very well.
Then Sosimo came to us, carrying a man under his lower right hand. He'd noticed him sneaking in near the animal trailers. When Claude asked who he was and what he wanted, he just said his name was Kirill(* and that he was interested in animals; he spoke very badly accented French. (I later heard that his full name is Kirill Sokolow). Claude told Sosimo to take him to the animal trainers to see how good he was; we could use some extra hands.
The rest of the circus prepared for the night's performance and we had already hired a local ticket-seller. I had nothing to do that night because it was one of those nights when I looked more like a big cat. So I went to my usual place under the seats in case anyone were trying to sneak in.
There were lots of soldiers in the audience that night, probably on leave from the Maginot Line. Some of them were very drunk and threw empty bottles to the ring. I also saw a group of three older men who mainly talked to each other and did not watch the show at all. There was also another group, five, dour men with identical coats, who watched the audience more than the show.
However, everything went well at first. Valmeer made trick shots with his knives - he is really very good - and some card tricks with unsuspecting spectators. Müller went through his usual tight rope routine. Sosimo lifted weights and three clowns at the same time.
Then came the elephant act. There was suddenly some noise and then one of the soldiers jumped to the ring, trying to run away. When the four dour men also did the same, he turned and threw a lighting bolt to them. It hit a leg of one of them.
The flash and the noise alarmed the elephants and they panicked, hollering and trying to run around. I tried to think what to do when Kirill came to the ring entrance and did - something.
And suddenly the biggest elephant calmed down. Just like that. Kirill did the same - something - to the other four.
Then Valmeer rushed to the ring, still wearing his stage magic coat. He nailed the soldier's sleeve to the ring's fence with a couple of his throwing knives. Then he did the same to a trouser leg of the first man who was running towards them. Two others stumbled on the man but the last one jumped over them. Kirill - made - one of the elephants to block his way.
Müller came in and brought Sosimo with him. Sosimo grabbed the four men and begun to drag them away. Valmeer threatened the soldier with one of his knives and the soldier came quietly. Some of the audience applauded. Maybe they thought that everything was part of the show. I hoped that it were a good sign.
I saw the man with a still burning leg limp away and ran under the seats to catch him but he vanished. There was some strange smell in the air.
Valmeer and Müller took the soldier to meet Claude. There he said that his name was Benoit Ferner, a conscript serving in the Maginot Line, and that the five men were German recruiters; they had been trying to recruit him to the Valhalla Brigades for a while now because of his gifts with lightning.
Claude called the police to take the four men away. Then he wrote a letter to the soldier's officer and gave it to him so he could explain what had happened. The Germans would probably go to jail.
The rest of the night went peacefully but I couldn't sleep; the strange smell disturbed me. It seemed to return from time to time.
And at the morning one of the animal trainers found the body of the fifth man. Because it looked like some beast would have ripped his breast apart, at first the police thought it was me but luckily my claws were short at that day. Valmeer and me tried to find some clues, even if I am not as good a tracker as the others think I must be. We found some strange tracks; as if some animal's paws had made a print against the ground but had not harmed the grass at all. The tracks disappeared into the park outside the circus fence. Nobody seemed to think of anything else to do but the police were grumbling again.
At that night I again saw the three strange men who did not watch the show at all; they just sat in the highest back seats and talked with each other. I crept below their seats to listen but did not understand a word. They spoke a bit like Germans but not quite like that.
When they left, Valmeer, Kirill and Müller went after them. Kirill also took with him a mouse he had befriended. They came back late at night.
The next day one of the animal handlers said that somebody or something had eaten half of the large can of meat without opening the can. As for Claude, he was tearing up more letters where men offered money to go to bed with me. Well, if they were handsome, I might consider…
I couldn't think of anything else but later in the day Valmeer came in with a dove in a cage. After the show was over, he took the cage, a wheelbarrow and went to the park with Müller and Kirill. I got curious and went to watch them over the fence.
Kirill sat on the wheelbarrow and went limp. Suddenly the dove calmed down and Valmeer left it out of the cage. It did not behave like a dove at all but listened to what Müller and Valmeer said and then flew over the park. Kirill kept on sleeping in the wheelbarrow.
I went back to my trailer to sleep. But some hours later shots woke me up. When I rushed out, I saw how some of the men that had had the guarding job that night were wrestling down a man with a shotgun. Sosimo was standing before them, bleeding from many small holes in his skin. Lobelia rushed in, tied up her beard and begun to tend to his wounds.
Valmeer and others came in about an hour later; to Claude they said that they'd found the man's boat in the river and used it to follow a black beast to its hideaway. Then they begun to question the man; he turned out to be some religious maniac, one of those who'd like to hunt people like us down as devils on earth. Later Müller let slip that his place was full of propaganda from some group named Carduna but I don't know how he did knew that.
The next night was strange as well. I was getting a better shape so I wore a mask and tights to join the trapeze artists for a small spin. When I was returning to my trailer, I noticed how Lobelia rushed to Müller's trailer and followed her from a distance.
Now Müller was threatening a man with a knife. Valmeer had nailed the man's sleeves to the door of Müller's trailer. Another man, with a scaly skin, was lying on the ground, with three of Valmeer's knives in his thigh and bleeding. Lobelia stopped the bleeding and noted that these people were probably nocturnals, people who cannot stand daylight.
I went to find Claude. When we came back to the trailer, Valmeer was trying to question the other man who refused to say anything until Valmeer threatened to let him burn in sunlight. The man admitted that they had been hired to kidnap Müller. Finally Valmeer got him to give an address of where the rest of his gang were living.
Claude told Müller to hide the attackers to one of the smuggling spaces before the supply wagons. When others decided to keep watch just in case, Sosimo offered to help (later he told me he used the time to finish Decamerone).
Later in the night strange smell woke me up again. I looked out and saw a strange shape moving slowly through a tent pole. When I went out, I noticed how Kirill was stalking the creature who finally stopped to stare at the tiger cage. It looked like a huge lion or something, with eight legs and goat's horns.
Kirill crept closer. I do not know what he tried, but suddenly the beast shook its head and fled, running thought the fence - without making a hole in it. I sneaked back to my trailer.
The next day Müller, Valmeer and Kirill took Valmeer's Bentley and left, trying to find the nocturnals napping. They came back hours later, took the prisoner from under the supply wagon and took them away.
The next day a huge man with a bark-like skin came to the circus and talked with Valmeer. After the night's performance they again took Valmeer's Bentley and drove away.
By the time they came back late at night, most of us were standing around a radio, listening to the news of Germany declaring war on Poland. I can't believe the Poles would be so stupid as to bomb a youth meeting near their border.
When I'm writing this, the Circus is moving away from Metz, probably to Nancy. A sympathetic policeman warned us that the military were going to arrest everyone suspicious now that Metz was going to become a military area, again.
I hope the war never reaches us.
Yes, I tend to run multi-session scenarios, although one factor for this campaign seems to be lots digressing, nitpicking and puns… Note that I am not that familiar with circus-specific terminology in English. I actually asked couple of circus associations with additional information but received no reply. The language may also be a bit too modern.
(* means a Player Character. Carine Jadot is a Non-Player Character)
It's early September 1939 in Metz, France, near the Maginot Line. The Spanish Civil War has been fought to a draw so far, Chamberlain has negotiated with Hitler and his propaganda minister Julius Streicher and Valhalla Regiments in Germany and Austria are stretching their muscles. There's lots of soldiers in the streets of Metz, many of them serving in the Maginot Line.
Carinne Jadot, half-sister of the circus proprietor Claude Jadot, writes:
September 8th 1939
Leaving Metz, France.
Dear Diary,
Today is a good day. For the first time in weeks I've shaped my hands in a good way. I have fingers now.
Many things have happened in the last couple of weeks. War is the worst thing, of course, but maybe it will not spread. At least I hope so.
Couple of days after the last time Jan Valmeer(* came to our circus. Valmeer (that's supposed to be one of his real names) is a famous circus entertainer, eccentric knife-thrower and good in sleight of hand. Claude was so happy when he called and wanted to join our circus - at least for a while, he tends to wander.
I was curious so when he drove through the circus gate with his Bentley and his trailer, I went to see him. So did Müller(* and dear diary, I finally know who author he looks like; Sosimo gave me a copy of Metamorphosis with an author's picture in the inside. It was his idea of a joke so I did not feel offended.
Claude was Greeting Valmeer in his own trailer. Müller had shown Claude his Nansen passport and Müller looked at it and grimaced. Müller still has his old Austrian passport but there is no Austria any more. Valmeer spoke fast with a strange jargon and looked like his limbs would be flowing; Claude later told me that he speaks four languages but none of them very well.
Then Sosimo came to us, carrying a man under his lower right hand. He'd noticed him sneaking in near the animal trailers. When Claude asked who he was and what he wanted, he just said his name was Kirill(* and that he was interested in animals; he spoke very badly accented French. (I later heard that his full name is Kirill Sokolow). Claude told Sosimo to take him to the animal trainers to see how good he was; we could use some extra hands.
The rest of the circus prepared for the night's performance and we had already hired a local ticket-seller. I had nothing to do that night because it was one of those nights when I looked more like a big cat. So I went to my usual place under the seats in case anyone were trying to sneak in.
There were lots of soldiers in the audience that night, probably on leave from the Maginot Line. Some of them were very drunk and threw empty bottles to the ring. I also saw a group of three older men who mainly talked to each other and did not watch the show at all. There was also another group, five, dour men with identical coats, who watched the audience more than the show.
However, everything went well at first. Valmeer made trick shots with his knives - he is really very good - and some card tricks with unsuspecting spectators. Müller went through his usual tight rope routine. Sosimo lifted weights and three clowns at the same time.
Then came the elephant act. There was suddenly some noise and then one of the soldiers jumped to the ring, trying to run away. When the four dour men also did the same, he turned and threw a lighting bolt to them. It hit a leg of one of them.
The flash and the noise alarmed the elephants and they panicked, hollering and trying to run around. I tried to think what to do when Kirill came to the ring entrance and did - something.
And suddenly the biggest elephant calmed down. Just like that. Kirill did the same - something - to the other four.
Then Valmeer rushed to the ring, still wearing his stage magic coat. He nailed the soldier's sleeve to the ring's fence with a couple of his throwing knives. Then he did the same to a trouser leg of the first man who was running towards them. Two others stumbled on the man but the last one jumped over them. Kirill - made - one of the elephants to block his way.
Müller came in and brought Sosimo with him. Sosimo grabbed the four men and begun to drag them away. Valmeer threatened the soldier with one of his knives and the soldier came quietly. Some of the audience applauded. Maybe they thought that everything was part of the show. I hoped that it were a good sign.
I saw the man with a still burning leg limp away and ran under the seats to catch him but he vanished. There was some strange smell in the air.
Valmeer and Müller took the soldier to meet Claude. There he said that his name was Benoit Ferner, a conscript serving in the Maginot Line, and that the five men were German recruiters; they had been trying to recruit him to the Valhalla Brigades for a while now because of his gifts with lightning.
Claude called the police to take the four men away. Then he wrote a letter to the soldier's officer and gave it to him so he could explain what had happened. The Germans would probably go to jail.
The rest of the night went peacefully but I couldn't sleep; the strange smell disturbed me. It seemed to return from time to time.
And at the morning one of the animal trainers found the body of the fifth man. Because it looked like some beast would have ripped his breast apart, at first the police thought it was me but luckily my claws were short at that day. Valmeer and me tried to find some clues, even if I am not as good a tracker as the others think I must be. We found some strange tracks; as if some animal's paws had made a print against the ground but had not harmed the grass at all. The tracks disappeared into the park outside the circus fence. Nobody seemed to think of anything else to do but the police were grumbling again.
At that night I again saw the three strange men who did not watch the show at all; they just sat in the highest back seats and talked with each other. I crept below their seats to listen but did not understand a word. They spoke a bit like Germans but not quite like that.
When they left, Valmeer, Kirill and Müller went after them. Kirill also took with him a mouse he had befriended. They came back late at night.
The next day one of the animal handlers said that somebody or something had eaten half of the large can of meat without opening the can. As for Claude, he was tearing up more letters where men offered money to go to bed with me. Well, if they were handsome, I might consider…
I couldn't think of anything else but later in the day Valmeer came in with a dove in a cage. After the show was over, he took the cage, a wheelbarrow and went to the park with Müller and Kirill. I got curious and went to watch them over the fence.
Kirill sat on the wheelbarrow and went limp. Suddenly the dove calmed down and Valmeer left it out of the cage. It did not behave like a dove at all but listened to what Müller and Valmeer said and then flew over the park. Kirill kept on sleeping in the wheelbarrow.
I went back to my trailer to sleep. But some hours later shots woke me up. When I rushed out, I saw how some of the men that had had the guarding job that night were wrestling down a man with a shotgun. Sosimo was standing before them, bleeding from many small holes in his skin. Lobelia rushed in, tied up her beard and begun to tend to his wounds.
Valmeer and others came in about an hour later; to Claude they said that they'd found the man's boat in the river and used it to follow a black beast to its hideaway. Then they begun to question the man; he turned out to be some religious maniac, one of those who'd like to hunt people like us down as devils on earth. Later Müller let slip that his place was full of propaganda from some group named Carduna but I don't know how he did knew that.
The next night was strange as well. I was getting a better shape so I wore a mask and tights to join the trapeze artists for a small spin. When I was returning to my trailer, I noticed how Lobelia rushed to Müller's trailer and followed her from a distance.
Now Müller was threatening a man with a knife. Valmeer had nailed the man's sleeves to the door of Müller's trailer. Another man, with a scaly skin, was lying on the ground, with three of Valmeer's knives in his thigh and bleeding. Lobelia stopped the bleeding and noted that these people were probably nocturnals, people who cannot stand daylight.
I went to find Claude. When we came back to the trailer, Valmeer was trying to question the other man who refused to say anything until Valmeer threatened to let him burn in sunlight. The man admitted that they had been hired to kidnap Müller. Finally Valmeer got him to give an address of where the rest of his gang were living.
Claude told Müller to hide the attackers to one of the smuggling spaces before the supply wagons. When others decided to keep watch just in case, Sosimo offered to help (later he told me he used the time to finish Decamerone).
Later in the night strange smell woke me up again. I looked out and saw a strange shape moving slowly through a tent pole. When I went out, I noticed how Kirill was stalking the creature who finally stopped to stare at the tiger cage. It looked like a huge lion or something, with eight legs and goat's horns.
Kirill crept closer. I do not know what he tried, but suddenly the beast shook its head and fled, running thought the fence - without making a hole in it. I sneaked back to my trailer.
The next day Müller, Valmeer and Kirill took Valmeer's Bentley and left, trying to find the nocturnals napping. They came back hours later, took the prisoner from under the supply wagon and took them away.
The next day a huge man with a bark-like skin came to the circus and talked with Valmeer. After the night's performance they again took Valmeer's Bentley and drove away.
By the time they came back late at night, most of us were standing around a radio, listening to the news of Germany declaring war on Poland. I can't believe the Poles would be so stupid as to bomb a youth meeting near their border.
When I'm writing this, the Circus is moving away from Metz, probably to Nancy. A sympathetic policeman warned us that the military were going to arrest everyone suspicious now that Metz was going to become a military area, again.
I hope the war never reaches us.